


Snowman

by K (Thiswasmydesign)



Series: Wammy's House Series [5]
Category: Death Note & Related Fandoms, Death Note (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Asthma, Fluff, Frozen (2013) References, Gen, Inspired by Frozen (2013), M/M, Snowmen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-26
Updated: 2018-02-26
Packaged: 2019-03-24 10:15:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,467
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13809090
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thiswasmydesign/pseuds/K
Summary: It's snowing for Near's first winter at Wammy's.Yes it's inspired by frozen fluff, in case anyone wants lots of warm hugs.





	Snowman

Near rarely wanted to play outside, so when Mello woke up and saw Near crouched on the end of his bed, sucking his thumb and watching him with wide eyes, he was surprised when Near asked him.

"Do you wanna build a snowman?"

Mello jumped out of the bed, running to the window. Outside there was no snow falling but there was so much already on the ground!

"Yeah!" Mello cheered, snatching jumper after jumper from his wardrobe and tugging them over his head. "Go get Matt!"

Near was already dressed in so many white fluffy jumpers that he could not bend his arms properly. It was cold in the snow but he liked it anyway, especially when Mello and Matt were there.

He had fluffy white gloves on, but they just got wet and cold so he took them off. His fingers went all pink from the cold and they hurt a bit but he didn't care. He would build a special snowman, he didn't care if it hurt his fingers.

Matt searched for just the right sticks to make arms and legs, but Mello helped him roll the snowball all around the garden, picking up lots and lots of snow until they couldn't push it any more, because it was too heavy.

"We need to make a head!" Mello rushed away while Near tried to catch his breath, the cold biting at his chest and making breathing hard. He stuck his thumb in his mouth; it would usually calm him, but he couldn't breathe around it now. He watched Mello start to roll the snowball for the head, and though his chest felt tight he refused to miss it so he went to help.

“Matt, help us lift it!” Mello shouted when Near wasn’t able to do, and they were trying to get the snowman head onto the body. Matt left his item search, coming over to them and helping lift the giant snowball that was bigger than Near’s head.

"Hey, you don't look so good," Matt realised, looking at Near. The youngest child’s lips were blue, his breathing fast and shallow.

“I’m fine…” Near promised. He reached out and took Matt’s goggles. “Can you put this on him?”

“On the snowman? Sure,” Matt secured the strap around the snow head, also stabbing sticks in for arms and pebbles for a mouth, and down the body for buttons.

“He needs a nose,” Near told the other boys, going to search for something. Mello followed him, looking worried.

Near hadn’t been searching long when the world started to spin.

“Mello!” he gasped, and tumbled to the ground, the dizzy feeling swallowing him up.

When he opened his eyes, he was hugged tight in Mello’s arms and Mello was sobbing.

“It’ll be okay, it’ll be okay, Matt’s gone for help, it’ll be okay,” Mello was whispering into Near’s white hair, holding him close.

“Mello?” Near panted, his chest tighter with Mello’s arms around him. Mello loosened his hold, wiping his snotty face on his sleeve.

“Near, are you okay?”

“I… I don’t think so…” Near managed, hardly able to breathe now.

Wammy’s heavy footsteps were approaching at a run.

“Mello, help him sit up,” he ordered as he got close. As soon as he was beside he pulled something blue from the first aid kit, holding it up to Near’s lips. “Take big breaths.”

Near wanted to tell Wammy that big breaths was exactly the problem, but then he was sprayed in the back of the mouth by something bitter and awful.

“Keep trying,” Wammy told him, spraying again. Near managed to breathe some into his lungs this time, his breathing feeling just a tiny bit easier.

“One more,” Wammy told him, letting him get a few normal breaths first. Near sucked air from the inhaler like his life depended on it, managing to get a little more from this try.

“Mello, help him up,” Wammy didn’t try to help Near himself, knowing that Near trusted Mello more. “We need to get him to the car, I’ll take him to the hospital.”

Mello refused to let Near go alone. He knew how quiet Near was around nurses, how much their uniforms upset him. He went with them to the hospital, and heard what the grown ups said. Asthma, cold weather, running around too much… an attack, dangerous, cyanosis and something about 87% being very bad. When he went home he would learn that meant the amount of oxygen in Near’s blood, which should be 100%, but was really bad if it was less than 92%.

He listened to the grown-ups, and worked out that building the snowman had caused the attack.

 

* * *

 

The snow continued for weeks.

“Do you wanna build a snowman?” Near asked through Mello’s door, where he had shut himself in his room since the asthma attack.

“Not today, Near,” Mello shouted back through the wood, locking the door so that his friend couldn’t come in.

He couldn’t build a snowman with Near, couldn’t put him in danger again. He’d been really sick last time, and it was Mello’s fault. Even Matt had seen it before Mello did.

Mello was a bad friend.

 

* * *

 

Near continued every day that week.

“Do you wanna build a snowman?”

“Go away, Near,” Mello called back every morning.

Near wouldn’t play outside without Mello. By staying in his room, Mello was keeping him safe.

Wammy spotted the wildest child’s unusual seclusion, and unlocked Mello’s door with the key from the outside.

“Mello,” he came and sat with him on the bed. Mello curled up, knees to his chest.

“I haven’t done anything,” Mello told him, expecting a telling off. That was usually the only reason Wammy spoke to him.

“I know,” Wammy agreed. “That’s what I wanted to talk to you about.”

“Oh.”

“Why are you locking Near out of your room?”

“I don’t want him in here,” Mello lied.

“That’s not the truth, Mello,” Wammy’s tone was disappointed. “You don’t think what happened last week was your fault, do you?”

“…no,” Mello lied again.

“Oh, Mello,” Wammy shook his head. He looked sad. “It wasn’t your fault. You didn’t do anything wrong. I didn’t even know that Near had asthma, and even if I had that’s not any reason to stay inside and stop playing.”

“But he got hurt,” Mello wrinkled his little brow, puzzled.

“With asthma, an attack like that could have happened at any time,” Wammy explained.

“But at the hospital…”

“There are things that make it worse,” Wammy allowed. “But that doesn’t mean you should stop doing them. Near has the medicine he needs now. He will be okay.”

“So, I can play with him?” Mello looked doubtful. “He won’t get hurt again?”

“I can’t promise, but he won’t be any worse because you’re playing with him,” Wammy explained. “You can’t live your life in fear, Mello.”

* * *

 

“Mello, do you wanna build a snowman?”

Mello threw open the door, grabbing his coat and running past Near.

“Yeah! Hurry up, slow poke!” he yelled, beating Near to the end of the corridor and down the stairs. Near giggled, following him in a rush as Mello reached the bottom set of stairs with the bannister rail and hopped on to it, sliding down. He landed at a run at the bottom, tearing out of the door and into the snow.

It was only four in the afternoon, but it was already almost dark outside. This wasn’t a problem because Wammy’s had floodlights attached to the building that turned on as soon as Mello’s movement activated them.

Mello worried constantly about Near, fussing if he looked like he was struggling at all with his breathing but Near was fine. The snowman they built was even bigger than the one before, and they used better things to decorate it; Near got some toys from his room to make little daisy buttons, a carrot from the kitchen for the nose (stolen away by sneaky Mello), actual buttons for the eyes and little pieces of fire place coal for the mouth.

Mello took off his scarf, wrapping it around the snowman’s neck.

“There,” Mello beamed at Near. “The perfect snowman.”

Near nodded, sucking his thumb.

The friends flopped down in the snow, laid on a blanket Mello got from inside.

“I like the stars,” Mello told Near, pointing out some of the prettiest ones that had names he knew.

“They’re really pretty,” Near agreed after a while. He sat up, looking at Mello, his thumb in his mouth.

“What’s wrong?” Mello asked, sitting up as well.

“You left me alone,” Near said sadly. “Promise me you won’t go away again?”

“I promise, Near,” Mello hugged him tight.

“Mello, you’ll always be my friend, right?” Near whispered in his ear.

“Forever and ever,”


End file.
